The Prank Proposal
by Clarity Texas
Summary: Ginny has a knack for knowing when Harry is up to something. Fed up with her ability to predict presents, he decides to trick Ginny in various situations...into thinking he's proposing. Will her preoccupation with the World Cup help Harry surprise Ginny?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: All creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s) and are in no way connected with J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros. The author of the following FanFiction does not in any way profit from the story and it is written solely for entertainment purposes only. Rights to characters and their settings is neither claimed nor implied.

Chapter I

Harry swung the door open in one swift motion with his hip. Occupying his arms was a giggling Ginny, still in her Holyhead game uniform. Her outer robe had been discarded along the trek to Harry's bedroom, but she still wore her green jersey with yellow letters. Her white game trousers were enough to drive Harry, and to Harry's irritation, most men mad. Which is probably how they arrived at the present situation.

Harry kicked the door closed with his right foot and continued toward his large oak bed. Attempting to be suave, Harry tried to take off his trainers with his girlfriend in tow. He managed to get one trainer off successfully but stumbled over the trainer, causing both he and Ginny to go careening toward the bed. A booming thud resounded as Ginny's head bumped the wall. Harry jolted off of Ginny in alarm. "Ginny! I am so sorry. Are you all right?"

Ginny burst out in laughter. In between fits of giggles she managed, "Yes, but that quite killed the mood!"

Harry smiled in relief. "Well as long as you're all right."

Harry lay down next to Ginny, spooning her and placing kisses around her temple to erase the damage. "I tripped on my bloody trainer."

Ginny's lip quirked up in amusement, "I know, Harry. I was there, and a moment later, I was thrown into a wall."

Harry groaned and buried his face in Ginny's tousled red mane. "I am really sorry, Gin!"

Not wanting Harry to go into guilt mode, she adeptly changed topics. "So do you know what's happening next week?"

Harry's muffled voice answered back from the hair at the nape of her pale neck. "Your game against the Montrose Magpies, yeah?"

Ginny giggled, "Yes, but besides that, silly."

Harry began to panic. _What was it? What day was it today? 28 April, 2002? 27 April 2002? No definitely the 28__th__. That report was due on the 27__th__ and I handed it in yesterday…didn't I? Yes, I did._

"Harry, you forgot?"

"No, just thinking what day it is. It's the 28th today?"

"Yes."

_Our four year anniversary is next week! Thank Merlin I remembered!_

"Our four year anniversary is next week. Did YOU forget, Ginny?" he teased.

Ginny turned her face to place a kiss on his nose. "No." She stretched tantalizingly in front of Harry. It was enough to make him plant kisses along her neck.

She lightly pushed him away. "Harry, you tossed me into a wall a moment ago. Besides, I want to take a shower. I smell like quidditch."

"But I like quidditch," Harry protested.

"Yes and I don't like smelling like quidditch. So let me get up. Are my spare clothes still in your wardrobe's bottom drawer?"

Harry nodded in agreement as she leapt off the bed. "You know if you moved in with me, you wouldn't have to cart your things around like that."

Ginny smirked as she gathered a fresh set of clothes. "You know I could move in if I was married. That would probably be the only way Mum wouldn't die of shame."

Harry smirked as he sat up, swinging his thin legs over the side of the bed. He faked a surprised expression and exclaimed, "Ginny! Have I not proposed to you yet?"

Ginny quirked an eyebrow. "No…I am pretty sure I would have remembered a proposal from Harry Potter."

"Oh. Believe me. It's coming."

Ginny smirked. "Harry, I'll probably know about it before you do! You're pants at surprises."

To an extent it was true. Harry was a horrible liar, especially to Ginny. He managed to throw her a surprise party four years ago but had been thwarted ever since. Ginny had figured out every birthday, Christmas, and anniversary gift before she touched the wrapping paper. It was quite irritating really. Either Ginny had an excellent talent for divination, or Harry was transparent to the love of his life. Perhaps it was a mixture of the two.

"I threw you a surprise party when you made the Harpies! And you had no idea!"

Ginny shrugged, "I suppose so. I'll be in the shower."

Harry lay back on his bed as she left the room. _It has been a while since I managed a decent surprise. It's also been some time since I managed a decent prank. She's so hard to surprise, growing up with Fred and George has her attuned to everything. _

Harry sat up abruptly. _What if I did all three? What if I proposed to her, pranked her, and surprised her?_ His face lit up as he began scheming away.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I will try to update within the week. Thanks to my beta, Lu, and my boyfriend who inadvertently gave me the idea in the first place. Review if you have the chance.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

After Ginny had washed away the quidditch smells, she pulled on a flirty teal halter sundress with white embroidery along the hem. Ever since she had started playing professional quidditch, she relished the time that she got to wear clothes of her own accord. Perhaps in an act of defiance, she began dressing more and more feminine during her time off the pitch. To contrary belief, it had nothing to do with being on _Witch Weekly_'s best dressed list.

She half dried her hair with a towel and set off to find Harry. The house was uncharacteristically dark. She was beginning to worry, when she found Harry in the basement kitchen. Candles were strewn about the table in addition to the ones floating from the ceiling.

Harry looked up from a stack of papers and crossed the room quickly to fold her into his arms. As he pressed her small frame to his, he tilted her head up with his hand and kissed her softly.

Ginny was a little startled. _What brought this on? Is he trying to surprise me with something?_

Harry interrupted her thoughts. "Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"Would you make me….the happiest of men…"

Ginny inhaled sharply. _Oh Merlin! He's going to say it! "_And?" she prodded.

Harry smirked. "Would you make me the happiest of men and make me a cup of tea?"

Her expression faltered. Her shoulders sagged slightly. "Oh. Um ok." As she crossed the room to find the kettle, Harry turned around so he could stifle the laughter threatening to leap out of his throat and betray his scheme. _This is going to be fun._

The following Monday, Ginny was clearly diverted. She got smacked with a bludger twice during practice—a rarity that hurt her body as well as her ego. Yes, she was clearly distracted by the occurrences from Saturday. After she showered, she changed into a grey skirt and a dark purple silk blouse. She fastened her cloak around her shoulders and apparated to the Ministry of Magic. There was only one solution to this problem—to over analyze Harry's every move since Saturday and ask Hermione her opinion. The challenge would lie in tearing Hermione away from her desk. Or perhaps she could just talk to her there. It would be easier. It would be no good to do it at Hermione and Ron's cottage. She would have to worry about her nosey brother coming in at any moment.

She entered the red telephone booth and dialed the appropriate number. After stating her business to the Ministry's operator, a badge spat out of the machine as it began its descent into the earth. "Ginny Weasley, Analytical Nutter." Ginny murmured a few choice words about the stupid machine and exited into the atrium.

The spacious atrium was crowded with witches and wizards leaving for the day. She felt like a salmon fighting her way upstream to the lifts. She had to wait an exceedingly long time to find a lift that was available. Perhaps her need to talk to Hermione just made it seem like a long time. She quickly stole into a lift as it deposited a load of wizards from maintenance into the atrium. Not checking to see if anyone else was in the lift, and not really caring either way, she urgently told the lift operator to go to Level 2.

A wizard cleared her throat loudly behind her. Whipping around in irritation, she stood face to face with none other than Harry Potter. Her body froze and her cheeks paled as she began to frantically wrack her brain for a cover story. Telling him that she suspected he was on the verge of proposing to her and how she needed to desperately talk to Hermione about it all would make her sound like an analytical nutter. _Bloody hell, my name badge! Has he seen it all ready?_

Her eyes searched his green eyes to find that they were glued to her face. She swiftly tossed her wavy damp mane over her left shoulder that bore the embarrassing label pinned hastily to her blouse.

"Hey, Harry! Didn't expect to bump into you!"

Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Well I do work here. You weren't coming to see me?"

His disappointment was palpable and Ginny was hit with a wave of guilt for lying accompanied by another wave of guilt for not visiting him at work more often. He had been known to pop in on her practices from time to time when he was returning from the field. Usually, he was wielding presents or food…or if it was an exceptionally long visit, both. Here, Ginny was avoiding him in his own place of business. She made a mental note to bring him lunch sometime in the near future…preferably after the World Cup mayhem died down.

She didn't bother trying to hide the guilt that radiated from her expression, "No, sorry. I was coming to see Hermione. I needed a bit of girl time." _So that wasn't a lie at all, really. Maybe this isn't so bad._

"Right. I guess you two haven't had much time together with your mad practice schedule." Ginny nodded in agreement and stood on her tip toes to plant a kiss on his unsuspecting lips as the lift arrived at Hermione (and Harry's) floor.

"Level Two. Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

_I don't know how Harry puts up with that irritating voice every time he steps off the lift. Maybe that 's why he leaves for assignments so often._ She was still a tad bitter over the name badge her hair was loyally concealing.

She burst into Hermione's office without knocking and immediately felt bad about it. Hermione's bum was sticking up in the air at an awkward angle as she was conversing with someone in Italy via floo, judging by Hermione's loud Italian.

Ginny awkwardly closed the door behind her and took a seat on an armchair placed neatly by the fireplace. She shut her eyes and began to attempt to organize her thoughts, trying to compile Harry's moods and attitudes as of late. It was all for nothing because all Ginny could really think of were things like _really, Hermione, how much longer? _Or, _she doesn't even know, it's not important, and she's ignoring me! _She then switched into silently willing Hermione to say, "Arrividerci," and draw her face from the hearth.

Ginny almost wept for joy when Hermione rose from the fireplace, stretching out her legs from the awkward position. "Hello, Ginny." She sounded resolutely exhausted. Bone tired. Narcoleptic almost.

She then chastised herself for her impatience. She should have just owled her to set up a drink thing for after work. It would have been a thousand times less rude than barging in on an important floo call to Italy for who knows what.

"I'm sorry to burst in like this," she began awkwardly, "but I am bursting to talk to someone."

Hermione organized a few stacks of parchments and then directed her attention to Ginny's urgent expression. "Is everything all right? Can we talk about this over dinner? I had a meeting run half an hour into my lunch break and never got the chance to eat. Had a measly scone for breakfast and my stomach is growling louder than Luna's lion hat."

Ginny's lips twitched up in an amused smirk as she remembered Luna's unique lion head dress. "Sure, that would be nice."

Ginny needn't ask where Hermione wanted to go. A new restaurant called Dulcedo Culina had opened a few months ago. Dulcedo Culina meant charmed kitchen in Latin. It was run and operated completely by free elves. Hermione had worked tirelessly to ensure that they had the same equal rights similar to other magical creatures. The first name proposed was the Enchanted Elf, but it was changed for fear of pure bloods snubbing the place. The economy in Diagon Alley was constantly growing back since the war, but a new business couldn't afford to make enemies within the wizarding community.

The restaurant was quite impressive. It had a cozy feel to it. The room was a long rectangle with a loft overlooking half of the restaurant. Three of the walls were painted a dark red colour. The fourth wall was left as an exposed brick wall. Behind the door-less brick wall was the kitchen. When you sat down at a table, all you needed to do was tap your wand to the items on the menu that you wanted. Within a few minutes, your food would appear before you. After your meal, a bill would appear in between the salt and pepper shakers. You would place your money on top of the bill, which then calculated and produced exact change. The food and dishes would vanish after the bill was paid the moment you left the table, leaving only a pristine white tablecloth and tableware. It was quite popular and had been featured in all of the recent wizarding publications.

Hermione frequented Dulcedo Culina often. Anytime she had a foreign dignitary visiting she would use it as a prime (and delicious) example of what could happen if you gave magical creatures rights.

Hermione and Ginny managed to find a table in the loft area of the restaurant. Before they could take their wands out to order, the bustling restaurant grew quiet suddenly. Chairs moved and heads turned to observe the scene on the ground floor.

A dashing young wizard was on a knee asking a shocked witch a question, who was covering her mouth with her hand and blushing furiously.

Ginny managed to catch part of the young wizard's speech, "Will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?"

The witch stood there for a moment before she managed to bob her head up and down before she tossed her arms around his neck.

The restaurant broke out into applause.

Ginny was brought abruptly back to her own problems. She let out a very audible groan. Hermione looked confounded.

After tapping her wand angrily to her menu, not really caring what it touched, she turned to Hermione. "THAT'S what I wanted to talk to you about."

Hermione delicately tapped her menu twice and pocketed her wand. "What? Harry not proposing yet? I thought you didn't care when he proposed. You've said so yourself on several occasions."

Ginny sighed dramatically. "Well I didn't. But you see, on Saturday I thought he was going to. I really thought he was going to pop the question…" she trailed off and stared blankly at the tablecloth.

Hermione nudged her arm. "Then what did he say?"

"He started off like that bloke down there did. 'Will you make me the happiest of men,' and then my heart started beating wildly and all I could think about was planning a wedding and moving in and waking up to his face and all sorts of thoughts but then…" she paused dramatically, her voice suddenly coated with acid, "he asked me to make him a cup of tea!"

Hermione scowled in confusion. "He said, 'Will you make me the happiest of men and make me a cup of tea?' That is a bit odd."

Ginny tossed her hair over her shoulder haughtily in irritation. "A bit odd? It was very odd! Who asks for a cup of tea that way? And half of the time he makes the tea and brings me a cup."

Hermione squinted at Ginny's left shoulder as she read the comically embarrassing badge. "Why are you an analytical nutter?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know, I really hate that stupid operator voice! I told her I wanted to discuss Harry's actions from Saturday, and she produced this atrocity!" She removed it from her dark purple blouse and tossed it disdainfully into her hand bag. The food appeared suddenly.

Ginny stared at the food in front of her in bewilderment. A rather odd bowl of soup stared back at her.

Hermione looked up from her plate with interest, "Oh! I haven't tried that yet! What's it called?"

"No idea." She shoveled a spoonful to her lips and was relieved to find that it was not only edible but delectable.

"Back to Harry. Would you like me to talk to him for you? See what he's up to? Although, I think you should be the one talking to him."

Ginny swallowed another spoonful of soup before replying, "No, no. I'm sure it was just a one-time weird thing. He probably didn't mean anything by it. I am so stressed out with all of this training! I will be so relieved when the cup is over!"

"You think the Harpies have a shot at the cup this year, then?"

Ginny snorted, "Of course! We went last cup, and we have an even stronger team this year."

Hermione grinned. "Sounds brilliant. Ron will be so proud. But keep me posted on the Harry stuff will you?"

Ginny nodded in agreement.

Author's Note: I appreciate you for reading! Please take a moment to review. Thanks again to my beta reader!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

Harry quickly pocketed his purchases and exited the store. In his pocket was some jewelry worth roughly half a year of his auror salary. He then went on to his next stop in downtown London to reserve a restaurant.

After the war, Harry and Ginny had started frequenting the non-magical portions of London as a way to escape into blissful anonymity. They still ventured into Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade from time to time, but nine times out of ten, when Harry and Ginny wanted to go on a date, they opted for the easier route.

As predicted, the wizarding publications had a grand time inventing wild and dramatic stories about Harry and Ginny's relationship once they found out they were dating. Whereas Harry abhorred the attention and ignored the stories, Ginny used the spotlight for publicity for the Harpies. Many of her own fans were just as curious to catch a glimpse of Harry at Ginny's games, as they were interested in seeing Ginny. Ginny kept the more ridiculous stories in a small box under her bed. She imagined showing her grandchildren how interesting she had been when she was their age. Currently in her collection, there were 8 secret wedding stories, 18 suspected pregnancies, 15 break ups, and 22 marriage proposals. The stories that sold the most papers were the infidelity stories, but Ginny never kept those. She was usually made out to be the villain, although she had seen a few that said Harry had a wandering eye. Most of the stories were a laugh, but she really hated the cheating stories.

To avoid all of the gossips, Harry and Ginny took their time discovering the cuisine of London. Harry entered a particularly posh restaurant and made a reservation for the upcoming Saturday.

He then made his way to a back alley to apparate to Diagon Alley. He and Ginny were making a rare appearance at Quality Quidditch Supplies to endorse a new broom stick. Ginny was the one getting paid a ridiculous sum of galleons to endorse the new Nimbus, but Harry always felt ill at ease when Ginny moved through large crowds. Perhaps it was his auror training or his past, but he was and always would be protective of Ginny.

He found Ginny behind the Leaky Cauldron pouring over a play book for the hundredth time. She looked up and met his eyes instantly. Her grin was contagious, and Harry found himself grinning like an idiot.

He walked over to her and greeted her with a kiss that lasted three seconds longer than it should have. Ginny broke the kiss first.

"We should really get going. The appearance is in a few minutes."

Harry nodded and remembered his plan. He took her hand in his and placed another kiss on her fingers. "Hold on a moment." Harry suddenly dropped to a knee. Ginny let out an audible gasp.

"Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"Will you wait for me while I tie my shoe?"

Ginny rolled her eyes dramatically. "You're such a git!"

Harry smiled and quickly tied his shoe before standing and tapping the appropriate bricks with his wand. Diagon Alley sprawled out before them. A few reporters ambushed them at that moment, taking pictures and shouting questions over each other. Ginny smiled while Harry wrapped a protective arm around her small waist, and they made their way through the crowd. His wand was drawn. He didn't care what people said about that, he wasn't taking any chances. Not with his Ginny.

They arrived at the quidditch shop without incident. Ginny and the designer of the new Nimbus gave a short speech on the broom's new features. Harry stood behind her while she signed autographs for half an hour. A couple of the brave fans asked Ginny for Harry's autograph, which she would smile and tell them no politely. Harry was a lot of things, boyfriend, war hero, auror, godfather, but one thing he was not was a celebrity. At least this was what he told the public when he had to. This is why it came as a particular shock that Harry had agreed to deliver the World Cup to the winning team.

Ginny had asked him earlier that week why he had agreed to make such an appearance. He hugged her at the time and told her, "Because I want to be the one to present you with the cup when you win."

Ginny smiled and retorted, "You'll curse the game talking like that!"

"Luckily for you, you're a witch."

"Yes, I am lucky."

She had to remind herself of moments like this when her boyfriend drove her mad. She had to remind herself on days like today.

Ginny had had an exceptionally good training day. She ran the foot, broom, and passing drills quickly and close to perfection. All of the girls seemed to be thinking on the same brain wave lately. The conditions for the game on Saturday were predicted to be horridly wet. This never bothered the Harpies. Since they thrived in Wales, rain was not an uncommon occurrence. They played well in the rain. They had an inside joke, "Holyhead Recipe for Victory – Just Add Water!"

She got out of practice ten minutes early and had been waiting for Harry while she poured over her play book, mentally picturing herself executing each play one by one. Then, her amazingly attractive boyfriend had arrived to take her to her appearance. And then, he went and made her think that he was proposing, yet again!

Yes, this was getting a little too frustrating.

She made up her mind to say something about it when they arrived back at 12 Grimmauld Place for supper.

To everyone's shock, Kreacher had found an elf wife. Like everything else Kreacher did, he had to ask Harry's permission to marry her. Harry of course gave Kreacher his blessing. His new wife used to serve the Malfoys. Her name was Sootie. She was distraught when her masters had been imprisoned after the war. The ministry had seized most of the Malfoy's possessions and assets. They forced the elf staff to take clothes and leave. Kreacher knew what it was like to lose a mistress and master and began a friendship with Sootie. She was ugly as most house elves are, but not as ugly as Kreacher. If Ginny had to guess, she was half Kreacher's age, but things like that were hard to tell with elves. They could live up to one hundred and fifty years, depending on their masters' kindness or lack of kindness. Harry was not her master since she had been freed. Sootie spent her days working at Dulcedo Culina or helping Kreacher out around the house. Harry had even enchanted Kreacher's cupboard in the kitchen to be double in size. It was a much happier home. Harry no longer felt twinges of guilt on the days he wasn't home.

The two of them had prepared a wonderful supper for Ginny and Harry. When they left the room, Ginny decided to talk to Harry.

Before she could form a plan of attack, she found herself blurting out, "Why did you get down on your knee like that today? Anyone could have come out of the Leaky Cauldron and sold a picture of us to every publication known to wizard-kind!"

Harry looked a little startled, then amused. "So what? I don't care what they say."

Ginny sighed. "I know you don't." She bit her lip and changed topics. "You're going to make it for the Magpies game on Saturday?"

"Of course. My next field assignment is the week after the World Cup."

"Where are you going?"

Now it was Harry's turn to sigh. "You know I don't know yet. And even if I did –"

"Even if you did know, it's classified, I know." Ginny finished for him. "So what are we going to do for our anni after the game?"

Harry smiled mischievously. "The best part kind of a prize is a su-prise."

Author's Note: I appreciate you taking the time to read this! Next chapter will be Harry and Ginny's big anniversary, so stay tuned.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Ginny spun around her room like a madwoman. She felt like her mind was being tugged into four separate directions.

One part was still relishing her recent trouncing of the Magpies. The stadium was positively bursting with her fans (home game for the Harpies and what not), and she had scored the majority of the goals that evening. They gave a good fight; it was a very exciting game really. They were tied 160 to 160 when Ginny saw the Holyhead seeker dive for the snitch. The Magpie seeker was unluckily 40 yards away when it happened. In her mind, everything was happening in slow motion. She tucked the quaffle under her left arm – beaters would automatically think she would hold it under her right arm. A bludger was sent hurling at her, but she managed to turn her broom upside down at the last possible moment, unfortunately for their other beater. The bludger made a sickening contact with his left arm. Ginny could still hear the bones protesting as the bludger easily broke his arm. Ginny righted her broom and quickened to the rings. The keeper had not taken his eyes off of her yet. She went in for an obvious, straight forward toss, but faked him out at the last moment, dropping upside down yet again and tossing the quaffle directly into the bottom ring. The stadium erupted into cheers. Ginny thought the noise was rewarding but had to do a double take when the noise tripled in sound. Gemma Holloway, the Harpie seeker, was a small, but muscular girl without fear. She had dived for the snitch and taken a bludger for it. Gemma lay on the ground, her broomstick in pieces yards away from her, half propped up by one arm and victoriously grasping the snitch in her other outstretched arm. It was a close victory, but a glorious one.

The second direction her mind was going was to preparing for her date. She had showered off the smell of the pitch and was now trying to select a dress to wear for her four year anniversary with Harry Potter. She wanted to look ridiculously tempting without dressing like an outright slag.

The third direction her mind was pulling was a search for her earrings. She had a nasty habit of taking them off in different places around her room. She never lost them exactly, it would just take her a week or so to come across them later. She had found some hot pink lily stud earrings but that was the sort of thing she would wear for…well she couldn't think of the last time she wore those. Perhaps they were left over from her childhood when she had questionable taste. In her left hand, she held one white gold drop earring and was trying to find its mate.

The fourth direction her mind was pulling was at a knock at her door. _Must be Hermione. She's the only one with enough manners to knock._

"Come in!"

Hermione opened the door and quickly shut the door and averted her eyes. "Ginny! What if I had been Ron! Cover yourself up!"

Ginny glanced down at herself. _Bugger. I forgot I put an invisibility charm on my bra._

Ginny was wearing a pair of lacy black knickers and a bra, but Hermione couldn't **see** the bra. Ginny grabbed her robe from her floor, unearthing a silver peep toe pump with a ridiculously high heel.

"Sorry about the mess. It's usually not this bad."

Hermione nodded in agreement, "I know, it only gets really messy when you're getting ready to go somewhere important. I'm the same way. Have you figured out what you're going to wear yet?"

Ginny sighed, "I was getting to that. Can't find my bloody earring." She stepped into her large wardrobe. It had long ago been enchanted to the size of a large walk-in closet. Ginny emerged holding three different dresses. She held each dress up for Hermione to inspect.

"Here's outfit A," Ginny announced as she held up a blush pink strapless dress. It was satin and came to Ginny's knees.

"Outfit B," Ginny held up a dark blue dress with a wide deep V neck line. The back was a work of art in drapery form. The fabric pulled together at the small of the back, clasped by a silver phoenix broach. The back had the same deep V as the front. It fell to a little past Ginny's knees.

"And last, outfit C," Ginny held up a dark purple dress with spaghetti straps. It had a black lace trim under the bust line, which would make Ginny's waist look even smaller than it all ready was. The dress' length fell in between outfits "A" and "B."

Hermione studies the choices carefully, as if she was trying to memorize a spell. "Has Harry seen you in all of these?"

Ginny scoffed, "No, my shopping habits are too absurd for that!" Ginny had been fairly good with her money. She saved at least half of her Harpies paycheck each month, but as for the other half, it probably was invested in her wardrobe.

Hermione just nodded. She had accompanied Ginny on some shopping excursions, but only bought a fraction of what Ginny purchased. "How about you try on options 'A' and 'B,' option 'C' looks like a dress you would wear to a wedding or a dinner party, it's not seductive enough."

Ginny snorted with laughter. "Well said, Hermione, well said."

Hermione blushed slightly and busied herself with finding some heels for Ginny to wear as Ginny changed into option 'A.'

Ginny studied herself in the wardrobe mirror's reflection. She turned and looked at her bum, then back at her hair, which was emphasized whenever she wore pink, then back at her bum again. Before she could say it Hermione called from across the room, "I don't think that's it. Let's see outfit 'B.'"

Ginny threw the dress over her head and ignored the gasp of shock that Hermione emitted. _Forgot about the damn bra again. I wonder if all only-children are so modest! _

She pulled on dress 'B' and was instantly glad that her bra was invisible. The deep V would have shown her bra, but instead, it just showed a tasteful amount of cleavage. At least that is what she would try to convince Ron if he saw her.

Ginny turned to study her back in the mirror and instantly decided on this dress. The deep V showed her lovely back. Ginny mentally counted her blessings that she had not fallen off her broom in the last game. The fabric pulled together at the small of her back. Her silver phoenix broach sparkled slightly when the light hit it in the right way.

Hermione seemed to be of a similar opinion, "Look at your bum!"

Ginny burst out laughing at Hermione's outburst. She then stole a glance at a clock and wished she hadn't. "Look at the time!"

Hermione coaxed Ginny's wavy mane into a lovely French twist while Ginny applied her makeup, hurriedly, yet carefully. _Foundation, powder, blush, lip gloss, eye shadow, mascara._ She performed a mental checklist. She slipped on a few silver bangles on her right wrist and stuck her wand in a small silver clutch handbag after enchanting her silver heels with a generous cushioning charm. Ginny twirled for inspection. Hermione nodded approvingly before they both raced downstairs.

Ron and George were in the kitchen. Ron was just starting on an apple while George seemed to be devouring a large amount of left-overs. George let out a long wolf-whistle as his little sister came into the kitchen looking like she could beat Fleur in a beauty pageant.

Ginny paused distractedly and sighed in defeat. "I never found my bloody earrings!"

Ron looked up at Ginny and was instantly angry. "Where are you going painted up like that?"

"To snog your best mate. It's our anniversary."

"Ron's right you know, Ginny. Wearing that dress, your nipples would show straight through if a cool breeze came along."

Ginny smirked. It was a game that they secretly played during the past few years, see how uncomfortable they could make Ron. He had a normally high tolerance but it was just pure fun to see how far they could push him.

"Not to worry, George."

"You're changing?" Ron wished against all hope.

"No, I'm wearing an invisible bra so I won't nip through. I accidentally flashed Hermione upstairs actually."

Ron choked on a mouthful of apple and started coughing furiously.

Ginny exchanged glances with George and winked at her mischievous brother.

Hermione caught on to the exchange and decided to join in on the fun. "Twice actually."

When Ron had managed to clear his windpipe, George picked up on it again, "Smart thing, invisible bras. But how do you find it the morning after when you're –"

George was drowned out by Ron exiting the kitchen yelling an off-pitch and terribly botched rendition of "Green sleeves," which he somehow amusingly thought was called, "Green Steve."

"ALAS MY STEVE YOU DO ME WRONG,  
TO CAST ME OFF SOMETHING SOMETHING…."

George and Ginny burst into laughter, while Hermione fought with herself, trying not to laugh. George leaned towards Ginny, "So is Harry going to pop the question and make an honest woman of you tonight?" He waggled his eyebrows annoyingly at Ginny.

"There's nothing not honest about me!" She hotly retorted. "And actually he just might." A grin spread over her face.

George looked a little surprised. "About time."

Ron had wondered back into the kitchen, hoping that the embarrassing talk was finished. Ginny noticed, and said to George, "What are even harder to find are invisible knickers."

Ron turned pink and started up on the chorus…or what he thought was the chorus.

"GREEN STEVE WAS ALL MY JOY,

GREEN STEVE WAS MY DELIGHT!"

George rolled his eyes at his little brother and looked at Hermione. "Watch out there, Granger. This little git is going to leave you for an alien named Steve."

Hermione couldn't hold back and burst out into side-splitting laughter along with Ginny. Ron stopped singing and flung his half eaten apple at George's face with an excessive amount of force. George dodged the apple at just the right moment, which was unfortunate for Bill, who had just come in through the floo. The piece of fruit hit Bill straight in the crotch.

Hermione and Ginny laughed even harder. Both Ron and George's chairs made large screeching noises as both men tried to exit the kitchen before Bill regained his capacity to walk.

"BLOODY HELL! GEORGE, RONALD, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Ginny managed to walk over to the back door, still clutching her side with laughter. "Right, Hermione, I'm leaving before I get hit with some produce."

Hermione wiped some tears from her eyes and stopped laughing long enough to say, "See you later."

Ginny arrive at number 12 Grimmauld Place and stepped into the foyer. She was immediately greeted by Kreacher and Sootie.

"Master Harry is upstairs shaving. Would you care to wait in the sitting room?"

"I hurried for nothing! Yes, I will wait there." She climbed up the first set of stairs and went into the sitting room off the first landing. She was too nervous to sit, it felt like a snitch was in her stomach, buzzing around and making her less calm than she usually was. She walked the length of the room a couple of times, listening to the sound her silver heels made on the wood floors.

She turned when she heard Harry enter the room. He had stopped abruptly in his tracks. His eyes darkened as he drank in her appearance.

"Merlin, Ginny. You look amazing."

She smiled in response and quickly looked away as he tried to discretely adjust his trousers. Harry was wearing a pair of dark grey trousers with a grey sports coat. He wore a blue button up shirt underneath which made his eyes look like a mixture of blue and green.

She crossed the room and hugged him tightly. His arms folded around her easily. His hands then began to explore the exposed back of the dress. She pushed him away lightly and teasingly said, "You're not even going to buy me dinner first?"

Harry blushed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Of course I was. It's a nice posh restaurant in downtown London."

"I was only teasing you know," she threw over her shoulder as she exited the room and started down the stairs. Seeing Harry's confused expression as he held her hand to apparate together, she said, "I am the one buying **you** dinner."

With a soft pop they arrived in a dodgy alley. Harry pulled her close and exited the alley quickly. He practically growled, "Over my dead body are you paying for this."

Ginny giggled in reply. She loved getting him riled up like this.

Author's Note: Next chapter will be up in a few days! The actual date had to go in the next chapter, I couldn't pass up the scene with the Weasley brothers. My beta reader edited these chapters really quickly, so thanks, Lu!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

Harry pulled open a large glass door for Ginny. The carpet was a plush red. The walls were painted some dark colour, perhaps a burgundy or dark brown. The hostess, dressed in all black, asked for his reservation. Harry gave her his name, and after a moment, she led the way to a secluded booth towards the back. The tablecloth was white and thick, the kind of fabric that simply looked expensive. A candle in a small red vase cast a little light on the table.

After Harry had ordered a bottle of champagne, Ginny recounted her adventures of getting dressed a few minutes earlier. Harry clapped his hand over his mouth as he laughed in attempt to not disturb the ambiance of the quiet restaurant.

"So Ron actually hit Bill in the bollocks with an apple?"

Ginny nodded in reply, laughing too hard to answer.

Harry wiped away a tear that had escaped while he was laughing. "Merlin, I should have gotten ready at the Burrow instead. Would have been loads more fun!"

Ginny nodded and took a sip of champagne. It fizzed down her throat and warmed her stomach. _I better eat something, or I'll be drunk before dessert!_

As if on cue, a waiter wearing all black with a crisp white apron appeared in front of their booth. He took their orders and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

They talked about the game for a good bit of time. Harry told her about the horror he felt when he saw the bludger hailing straight for her. Ginny told him about the rush of adrenaline she got when she scored the winning goal upside down.

Their food arrived. It looked more like art than food. It tasted almost as good as it looked. Harry convinced her to split dessert with him. Harry suggested a dessert that he had in France on auror business. It was called, "la coupe vacherin." It was very sweet with mango, strawberry, and lemon sorbet with raspberry coulis and crushed meringues.

After they demolished the dessert, Harry reached inside his coat pocket and produced a small velvet black box. He slid it over smoothly across the white tablecloth towards Ginny.

Ginny reached hesitantly towards the box as Harry said, "Happy anniversary, Ginny. I love you."

She met his green eyes. "I love you, Harry."

She flicked her eyes toward the box she was now cradling in her hand. Fingers trembling, she lifted the lid to find something sparkling at her.

_Wait, why are there two diamonds? Two? Bugger. Earrings. But bloody expensive ones! Best not take these off just anywhere._

She smiled and immediately removed them from the box, putting them in her ear lobes right away, "Thank you Harry, they're gorgeous! I couldn't find my earrings earlier."

Harry smiled, "Please don't lose those. They're two carat."

Ginny gasped audibly. "Harry!"

Harry shrugged and smiled. "You're worth it." He turned his attention to the check. "Now, if this food was worth it, I'm not sure…" he grumbled and placed muggle money in the black folder. Harry looked back at Ginny and grinned. "They really do look great on you. Did I manage to surprise you?"

Ginny laughed, "Yes, actually! I was suspecting a giant rock engagement ring. Something very obnoxious. But these are lovely."

"My plan worked then." His mouth hitched up in an adorable smirk.

_He WAS toying with me this entire time!_

She snatched the now empty black box closed and threw it back at his chest. He caught it swiftly and chuckled. "It's nearly impossible to surprise you, Gin."

"I know…but I really thought you were going to propose," she said as she studied her hands.

"I am. You just don't know when. Shall we go to our next location for night?"

Ginny smiled at his admission and rose gracefully from her seat, her ears sparkling in the candlelight. She took his proffered arm and followed him to a secluded spot to apparate. A moment later, she was led out of yet another alley and staring straight up at England National's Opera!

"Oh, Harry," was all she could manage to say.

"Is this all right? I know we both listen to music a good deal, and this is supposedly the best way to hear it."

She nodded. "What are we seeing tonight?"

"Puccini's opera, 'La Boheme.'"

"Are we dressed properly?" She noticed that the other couples entering the theatre had complete suits. Half of the women wore dresses similar to Ginny's while the other half wore floor length gowns.

Harry produced a tie from his pocket and hastily tied it. Ginny smiled and fixed it. After growing up with seven men, ties were easy.

They were seated on the ground level, in the center towards the back. They had a partial view of the orchestra and a full view of the stage. Three tiers of seating rose on their sides, the box seats ornately gleaming with gold.

"I hope this is all right, apparently to get one of those seats you have to pay way in advance," he said apologetically when he caught her staring at the box seats.

"Harry, if you apologize again, I won't snog you senseless when we go back to your place."

Harry grinned at the prospect and reached for her hand.

The thick red curtains parted as the orchestra started. She couldn't understand the words very well, but the gestures and emotions of the voices portrayed the story beautifully. There was a poor poet named Rodolfo. He was in love with a seamstress, Mimi. From what Ginny gathered, Mimi was a bit of a flirt, especially for the 1830s. Rodolfo got angry with Mimi for flirting with other gentlemen, but Mimi was dying of some illness. Rodolfo forgave her, and they reunited right before she died. It was so sad but beautiful at the same time. Ginny wiped away a few tears that escaped before she stood, giving the performers and musicians a standing ovation with the rest of the opera house.

They slowly made their way out of the opera house with the mass of muggles and managed to walk to a deserted point to apparate back to Harry's house for that snog session Ginny had mentioned previously.

Author's Note: My roommate named her beta fish after Puccini, the composer. When I was researching operas, this one stuck out! It's also one of the very few I've seen.

Sorry if you're disappointed that he hasn't proposed yet, I promise you, it's coming! You AND Ginny just don't know when. My boyfriend did the diamond ear ring thing to me on our one year anniversary. They weren't two carats though. ;)

And once again, thanks, Lu!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI

A shrill whistle pierced the lazy summer air. The Holyhead Harpies, clad in scrimmage uniforms, descended from the late afternoon sky. Ginny Weasley's small feet touched the soft grass of the pitch. Her hair was a windblown mess of red curls. Her jersey was glued to her skin with the sweat of a long day's work. She dismounted her broom and joined her teammates in a circle.

Gwenogg was giving a summary speech for the evening. "I was pleased with today. If we can maintain our focus and drive into next week, we'll be able to give Transylvania a run for their galleons. Remember, they are going to play dirty. Do what you can to avoid their tricks. Fight back but only to the extent of the legal rules. The International Quidditch League was really harsh on penalties last World Cup."

There was a collective sigh amongst the Harpies. They had made it to the finals last cup, in 1998, but lost to Brazil. The Brazilian seeker just caught the snitch at the wrong time for the Harpies. It went to show that quidditch was just as much a game of skill as it was a game of timing. Nevertheless, the Harpies seemed to have a chip on their shoulder from the last cup. They were burning with desire to prove themselves this year.

Gwenogg ignored their sighs and continued. "You lot have earned a morning off. Meet back up here at noon tomorrow. Rest your muscles. No extraneous activity tonight." She eyed two Harpies with particularly active love lives. They embarrassedly dropped their eyes to the grass.

Ginny rolled her eyes and trekked back to the changing rooms with the rest of the ladies. A shower in the small stalls did not appeal to her at the moment. What sounded nice was a long soak in the large garden tub at 12 Grimmauld Place. No brothers would bang on the bathroom door and tell her to hurry up there. She deposited her broom in her cupboard and walked to the apparition point.

She was instantly greeted by Kreacher, of course. Sootie was working this evening at Dulcedo Culina.

"Hey Kreacher, I'm going to have a soak upstairs."

Kreacher bowed. "Of course, Miss Weazy."

She was too tired to deal with Kreacher's sass. Ginny dragged her aching body to the bathroom on the second landing. She peeled off her smelly clothes and tossed them happily into the laundry shoot. She placed her wand on the counter next to the sink and filled the tub with scalding hot water. She slowly climbed in the tub and relaxed in its comforting warmth. Her hands went to work, trying to take her hair down. She couldn't even remember what she had put it in that morning. Was it in a ponytail? A bun? A knot? Whatever it was, it was simply a mess now. She would have to take the time to French braid it tomorrow. It would keep it slightly tidier. Thoughts similar to these occupied her mind as she took her time washing her hair and body.

When the water began to lose its' heat, Ginny drained the tub and climbed out.

"Shite."

She looked around the bathroom carefully and realized it was completely devoid of a towel larger than a washcloth. _Well I don't want Kreacher to see me starkers. I'll nick one from Harry's room._

She grabbed her wand and darted across the hall into Harry's room, leaving a trail of puddles behind her. She opened Harry's wardrobe and exhaled a sigh of relief. On the top shelf, meticulously folded, was a plethora of soft blue towels. She stood on her tip toes but could not reach the shelf.

"Bloody ridiculous," she mumbled under her breath. She jumped up and grabbed the first towel her fingers touched. Four other towels came down with it. She heard a distinctive thump on the floor boards. She dried herself off and wrapped a towel around her body before she bent down to pick up the towels on the floor. Between the floor and the last towel Ginny folded was a small black velvet box.

She gasped as she picked it up from the floor.

_What do I do? Do I open it or put it back? Maybe this is really the ring? It won't hurt if I take a small peak. I will still be surprised when he actually bloody proposes. _

With her curiosity getting the better of her, she stood up slowly and opened the box. A piercing alarm filled the room and Ginny quickly dropped the box.

As soon as it hit the floor, the alarm ceased. A loud crack filled its stead as Kreacher popped into the room. "Master said not to let Miss Weasley look in the box." Kreacher picked up the case and glared suspiciously at Ginny.

"Are you going to tell Master…I mean, Harry?"

"I must tell Master when he gets home from the Ministry."

Ginny glanced at the clock. That would be anytime now. _I wonder if I can tell him before he hears it from Kreacher. _"Right, I'm going to tell him first." With that, she shooed Kreacher from the room, who was still clutching the small alarm rigged black box. She shut the door and quickly dressed. She didn't have time to dry her hair. She piled her wet mane in a bun. She ran into a problem after she put on some tight jeans and a tank top. She had run out of clean shirts. Sure she had plenty at the Burrow, but she did not have time to go over there. With a grunt of frustration, she yanked Harry's light blue oxford button up shirt off the hanger and hastily buttoned it over her small frame. The shirt fell to her mid thigh and gave her the impression of having no waist whatsoever. As a quick solution to this problem, she retrieved a black ribbon she used to tie in her hair for Harpie appearances. She lengthened it with her wand and tied it into a bow around her tiny waist. She groped around for shoes but could only find a pair of black heels and her game shoes. There was one red ballet flat, but its mate was missing. Ginny sighed and put the heels on her tiny feet.

_Heels are the last thing I need for running around the ministry._

She put on mascara and lip gloss in thirty seconds and grabbed her wand to apparate.

When she opened her eyes, she stood in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Cursing herself for not grabbing her robe to blend in better, she began to make her way to the lifts. It was not as crowded as it could have been. It was past six. It was the one time that she felt grateful that Harry was a bit of a workaholic. She trotted over to the lifts as fast as her heels would take her. She leaped into a lift as the door was about to close. She asked the lift operator to go to Level 2. The lift made two other stops before she reached Harry's floor.

Not waiting for the door to fully open, she darted out of the lift as soon as it began opening. She came into full contact with someone, that sent her falling backwards. She felt strong hands catch her as a bright flash of light filled the corridor for a moment. It all happened so quickly, leaving her quite confused as to what exactly had happened.

She opened her eyes and saw her boyfriend, Harry Potter, holding her up with one arm under her back and the other arm around her hips. He slowly brought her upright but did not address her right away. He spun around angrily and glared at someone behind them. Ginny followed his gaze to see a skinny wizard running down a corridor with a camera bag strapped to his body.

"Bloody reporters."

"Harry? I have something I need to tell you. Can we go to your office?"

Harry nodded, still glancing over his shoulder in case another reporter was lurking behind a corner. He led the way and walked through the maze of auror cubicles to a wall of offices. He taped the doorknob with his wand and held the door open for her.

Harry's new office was slightly larger than the cupboard under the stairs where he lived for the first eleven years of his life. The room was a skinny rectangle with a desk and three chairs crammed in it. An odd circle window occupied one wall, displaying a picture of the Swiss Alps. A few shelves mounted on the wall above his desk held several books. Taking up another small wall was a poster of Ginny twirling around in the sky in her Harpies uniform. After a few twirls, a streak of red rocketed toward the camera and then paused to smile for a moment. Ginny smirked as she stared at the poster of herself. She remembered the day the photographer came to the pitch to shoot all of the Harpies posters. When it was her turn, she went through the standard chaser moves. The photographer called for her to wait as he changed into another roll of film. Ginny hated staying still on a broom, so she began to twirl about in the sky, making imaginary doodles with her broomstick. When she descended, she was surprised that the photographer had not only captured her twirling, but he had picked this portion of her shoot to share with the world.

Ginny perched herself on the edge of Harry's meticulously neat desk as Harry sank into his normal desk chair. He looked tired but raised his eyes to meet Ginny's in expectation.

"I wanted to tell you this before Kreacher did. It seemed like the right thing to do…" she trailed off and tried to get a hold of her thoughts before she continued, "I was taking a bath at your house after practice. I didn't want to be interrupted like I normally am at the Burrow."

Harry's green eyes suddenly lit up with interest. A small smirk settled on his lips.

"Stop being randy! I was in the bath and when I got out, and I had to go take a towel from your wardrobe."

A look of understanding dawned on Harry's face.

"Of course I can't reach the top shelf, so when I pulled on a towel, a bunch of them sort of fell out. And a jewelry box fell out with it. I'm so sorry, Harry. I knew I shouldn't have looked, but I tried to peek at it and of course that stupid alarm you set on it went off. What was that by the way?"

"It's the spell that they use on the sneak-o-scopes."

Ginny nodded. "Kreacher came in and took it from me and told me he was going to tell you. So I panicked and came over here as soon as I could."

Harry grinned. "That would explain my shirt being used as a dress then."

Ginny looked down at her creative outfit. "Oh yeah. I suppose I sort of forgot about that. Sorry."

Harry chuckled, "Ginny, I don't know one man who doesn't like to see their girlfriend in his clothes." He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her lips softly. "It's so sexy."

A purple paper airplane zoomed into Harry's office and stopped right in front of Harry and Ginny's faces. Harry sighed and plucked the memo from the air. Ginny rose from his lap to give him some privacy to read the memo. She was promptly rewarded for this act, because Harry told her what it was about in a matter of seconds.

"Bloody hell! That was fast. Our photo is going to be printed in the _Evening Prophet._ Like people don't have anything better to read about than me catching you from falling coming off a lift."

Ginny looked a bit startled. In the chaos surrounding the past hour, she almost forgot about the photograph. "I doubt they will say that I was falling. They will probably print some story about me having an affair or a baby. Maybe both. I think they just write outlandish stories and keep them in a drawer and publish them on days when the news is slow. Boosts paper sales. It's unfortunate that they actually got a photo though."

Most of the rubbish stories printed about Harry and Ginny were devoid of photographs. The photo would undoubtedly make for an interesting story.

Harry tossed the memo into the rubbish bin. "Want to grab a bite to eat?"

"Tempting but my hair still looks terrible."

"No it doesn't." Harry reached for the elastic hair tie and unwound it from her hair. Waves of red fell down around Ginny, scattering water droplets around the tiny office. Harry guided her to his office chair and made a motion for her to sit down. He then took out his wand and dried her hair, tendril by tendril. Ginny smiled. It was these little sweet gestures that made her heart ache with love for Harry Potter.

Author's Note: Stay tuned. Next chapter, the WORLD CUP! Thanks, Lu.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter VII

"Weasley! Come into the office NOW!"

The activity in the Holyhead Harpies changing room came to a brief halt as a dozen women stopped to glance at a rather pink-faced Ginny Weasley. She pulled her practice robe over her shoulders and closed her cupboard. She just knew she was in trouble. The night before, a photographer had taken a photo of Ginny smacking into Harry as she was running out of a lift at the Ministry of Magic. Not only had the photo been published in the evening paper, but it was reprinted in this morning's edition. Apparently, Gwenogg didn't find it amusing. She took a deep breath and started the walk of shame to the manager's office. She organized her arguments mentally and straightened her shoulders as she walked into the cramped manager's office. It was cluttered beyond belief with Harpies paraphernalia. She ignored the lone vacant chair and waited for Gwenogg to look up at her from a copy of _The Daily Prophet._

_This is ridiculous. Maybe I should start talking before she does. _"Look, Gwenogg, it isn't that big of a deal, and that fabricated story is rubbish. I was trying to get to Harry's office and I smacked into him coming off the lift. It's not my fault some idiot thought this was front page worthy…twice."

Gwenogg didn't seem to have absorbed any of Ginny's little speech. "It says you two were found snogging in a broom cupboard and then again in front of the lifts. It also says you're knocked up and that playing at the World Cup would put Potter's unborn child in danger. Do you have any idea how terrible this makes us look?"

Ginny rolled her eyes dramatically. "I am NOT pregnant. I'm only twenty for Merlin's sake!"

"The public doesn't think about that. They think, 'Oh, look, here's the post. Ginny Weasley is a horrible person that would put her unborn child in danger by flying in a World Cup game.' It doesn't matter to them if it's true of not. It's staring up at them with a photo no less as they sip their morning tea!"

"Look. I don't know what to do short of showing a negative pregnancy test to _The Daily Prophet_, which would only call even more attention to this ridiculous story. They've printed rubbish about me before, and they'll keep on printing rubbish. It makes them money. And you weren't complaining when it made YOU money too, you know."

"Yes, but this could make all of us lose money."

Ginny's mouth fell agape. "I thought this was more than about money to you, Gwenogg. Guess I was wrong." With that she turned on her heel and stormed out of the office. She slammed the door for good measure. She knew it was childish, but so was chastising her for a made up story that was not her fault. On days like this, she wished she was a beater.

She mounted her broom and tore into the sky, passing the other Harpies lazily warming up on their broomsticks. The wind tore at her clothes and tried to mess up her hair. It was unsuccessful this time. She secured it with a generous dousing of hair spray before she had been ambushed by the Harpies' captain. Ginny then focused all of her energy on the drills before her. Her intense focus seemed to unnerve some of her team mates, but it quickly became contagious. By the time the summer sky began to turn to dusk, the Harpies were on the same focused brainwave, running plays like a team of synchronized swimmers. They had taken only three breaks throughout the long day. They all seemed to dismount their broom s rather reluctantly.

Gwenogg gave her pep-talk of the evening while Ginny refused to meet her eyes. The World Cup started in two days. The opening match was against Transylvania. If Transylvania advanced, they would most likely play Peru. Peru had a team of fast flyers this year. Ginny had picked apart their plays mentally in search for weaknesses with Gwenogg. Peru seemed to lean heavily on penalties. When they were fouled, the players howled like babies until the referee noticed them. Transylvania was, and most likely would always be known for their dirty playing, fouling openly, secretly, dangerously, and often. If the Harpies didn't beat Transylvania (which of course she really hoped they would), she would be very interested to see these two teams go head to head.

If the Harpies managed to beat Peru, they would play either the Toyohashi Tengu from Japan or the Sweetwater All-Stars from Texas. It would certainly make for an interesting cup. The Tengu team took the game very seriously. After each defeat, the players would burn their broomsticks in shame. They were required to run ten laps for every point gained on their keeper. Their discipline paid off, to an extent. Discipline may help focus, but it does not help you fly quicker or adapt your plans when something goes amuck. The Sweetwater All-Stars from America were a new upcoming team. They made their big break in 1993 when they defeated France's Quiberon Quafflepunchers in a grueling five day tournament. Ever since then, they had been dominating most of Europe. Interestingly enough, they were not fast fliers. They seemed to sit back and let the other team do the work for the first hour or so and observe strategy. Then out of nowhere, they would pick a player and render them helpless. For example, Ginny watched one game they played against Ireland. They sat back and observed for a good forty minutes or so. Then the chasers began to fly in the way of the Irish chasers. They flew below, above, to the right, left (where ever they were least expected really) and simply plucked the quaffle out of their arms. It went on like this for the beaters and the keeper. They found the weakness and destroyed them (metaphorically speaking of course). The major problem with this strategy was that it was a gamble. If the opposite team's seeker caught the snitch during the studying duration, they would lose the match. Still, it was a formidable strategy.

Ginny snapped out of her day dream as Gwenogg approached her. She looked around and saw the other Harpies retreating to the changing rooms. "I'm sorry I said that stuff, Ginny. I mean it does reflect badly on the team, but I know it's not your fault. This cup has me stressed out."

Ginny nodded. "I think we all are. See you tomorrow."

Gwenogg looked puzzled. "You really were out of it. I just finished telling everyone that we're taking tomorrow off. It won't do a bit of good if we're all stressed for the cup. Just come in at sun up the day of."

Ginny managed to smile and nod before dragging her tired body toward the changing rooms.

The cool spray of the shower seemed to energize her and give her a second wind. She changed into a light purple sun dress that she had packed earlier that morning and slid her feet into some silver sandals. She grabbed her handbag and apparated to the Burrow.

As usual, the Burrow was a flurry of activity, but today's activity would perhaps stand out above other days. After she entered through the back door and through the scullery, she met a peculiar sight. There, her comedian of a brother sat at the kitchen table, with a bevy of Wonder Witch products strewn about. The worrisome part was this – Hermione Granger was leaning over him and currently applying the new Magical Multiplying Mascara (mascara enchanted to multiply your lashes for up to twelve hours). She blinked twice, to make sure George wasn't petrified, but to confuse matters, he seemed to be sitting there on his own accord. Sitting across from this bizarre scene was her boyfriend, laughing his arse off at George's misfortune. To complete this scene from the twilight zone, her lazy and lanky brother, Ron was busy at the stove preparing supper….WITHOUT her mum's supervision…or nagging. This was odd indeed.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?"

Hermione paused and set down the mascara tube only to select a tube of violently pink lipstick. "Hermione that shade of pink looks horrid on gingers."

Hermione smirked in perverse pleasure. "Oh, I know it does."

Harry started up with a new bout of laughter, emitting a rather loud snort in the process.

"Right so is anyone telling me what's going on? George, are you a drag queen now? And Ron, does Mum know you're cooking by yourself?"

Ron gave an indignant snort. "I've cooked loads of time. You've just never noticed because you're at practice till sundown!" His voice dripped with venom.

George spoke for the first time (Hermione had finished his lipstick). "You two sound like an old married couple. And if I wanted to be a drag queen, little sister, you could bet that I would look a right state better than this. I bet I would give you a run for _Witch Weekly's _Best Dressed List."

"Ah, but betting is what got you in this chair in the first place," Hermione chided.

Harry was laughing so hard, he had tears coming down his face.

Ginny rolled her eyes. Betting was breathing oxygen to her brothers. "What did you bet this time?"

"Classified." George crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look serious which looked pretty ridiculous considering his beautician's work.

Ginny tried Ron next. She walked over and sliced a handful of vegetables. "Ron."

"Hmm?"

"You know I'll find out anyway, so you may as well just tell me now."

"Can't."

Ginny breathed out a sigh of irritation. "Why?"

"Classified."

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?"

George piped up across the room. Hermione had started to curl his hair with her wand. "Well, little sister, perhaps they don't teach you these things at your little Harpies practices but the word, 'classify' originated around 1799 from the French word _classe,_ and in short, it means it's none of your business."

Ginny stalked out of the room but gave George's head a sound smack with her handbag, sending his ginger curls flying.

"Now that was just uncalled for!"

She had no sooner closed the door and tidied up her room when she heard a hesitant knock at the door. Knowing it was someone not in her immediate family (who almost never knocked), she quickly crossed the room to open the door. Harry's green eyes found hers immediately.

"May I come in?"

"Of course." She stepped aside and mentally praised herself for just tidying up her room. Her eyes darted around the perimeter to make sure she hadn't left out any knickers. Nope. She was safe.

Harry sank down onto her small bed. "You know they were just taking the mickey out of you, yeah?"

Ginny snorted, "Harry that's my life story pretty much. In fact, I think that's a prerequisite to bearing the Weasley name." She was definitely used to her brothers being the most irritating people on the planet. Sometimes it was just a bit much on days like this.

Harry studied her face intently. Although she put on a front, he could see the tension. He could tell that she hadn't had the best day. He extended his hand and she automatically placed her hand in his. Neither hand was really smooth. Ginny worked with broomsticks and quaffles, while Harry worked with paperwork and criminals. The advantage of it was that neither of them really cared.

Harry tugged gently on her arm and patted the spot next to him on her purple quilt. Ginny flopped next to him and leaned into his warmth. She placed her head in the crook of his neck and inhaled. Suddenly, all of her problems seemed to fade away. It wasn't as if they were gone exactly, but it was as if someone had turned down the volume on the wireless so low that it could be hardly noticed.


	8. Chapter 8

Detailed Harpies Roster

Seeker: Gemma Holloway 04

Chaser I: Ginny Weasley 08

Chaser II: Giovanna Rossi 09

Chaser III: Gloria Collins 15

Beater I: Gwenog Jones 05

Beater II: Giselle Rose 02

Keeper: Allegra Gregg 12

Reserve Seeker: Leah Price 11

Reserve Chasers: Gia Piazza 14, Bettina Greco 07, Catherine Green 17

Reserve Beaters: Grace Williams 01, Georgina Harrison 16

Reserve Keeper: Gale Bennett 03

Chapter VIII

Ginny awoke while it was still dark outside. She untangled her limbs from Harry's and slid off the mattress almost quietly enough to not awake Harry. Harry's hand caught her wrist as she stood. He blinked a few times and then squinted up at her face. _Good thing he can't see without his glasses, I must look a fright. _

Harry let out a horse whisper, "You leaving?"

"Yeah before the house wakes up and sees me in your bed. Plus, I need to pack and stretch."

Harry smirked. A dangerous glint appeared in his eyes. "I wouldn't mind watching."

Ginny playfully rolled her eyes, "I can tell." She glanced down at Harry's lap and blushed furiously. Harry on the other hand didn't look embarrassed at all. He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back on the bed, quirking an eyebrow as a silent invitation. Ginny bent to kiss his nose and quickly left the room before she changed her mind. She snuck down the stairs and into her room without encountering anyone.

She opened her wardrobe and pulled out a trunk half the size of her old Hogwarts trunk. It was dark green and had gold flowers painted along the edges. She flipped open the brass latches and began to pack her clothes for the World Cup. She had four changes of her game day uniform, pajamas, jeans, Holyhead t-shirts, and a number of green dresses. On trips like this, they were expected to represent the team the entire time. It meant that all of the Harpies would be on their best behavior. It translated to a few rules. Rule number one – do not dress like a slag at any point in time. The press could be watching. Rule number two – if you have overnight visitors, they must stay in your room. There would be absolutely no walks of shame for the Harpies. The press could be watching. Rule number three – alcohol is permitted in small doses. Do not get drunk or pissed. The press could be watching. Rule number four – do not talk to the press or game commentators. Several fights had broken out amongst teams because of a snarky comment that a player had no right in saying in the first place. The press could be watching. Other than that, the Harpies could do as they pleased when they weren't on the pitch.

She grabbed her robe and got in the shower before the rest of the house needed to do the same. She quickly shaved her legs and washed her hair. She toweled off, put her robe on, and brushed her teeth. As soon as the toothpaste touched her teeth, someone started banging on the bathroom door. _Times like this make me think it wouldn't be so bad to move out._ She irritatingly flung the door open and continued to brush her teeth. George was in the hallway, looking like a four year old, dancing around on the landing. Ginny automatically slowed down her toothbrush, watching her brother squirm. He still had a bit of mascara smeared around his eyes from the previous evening's bet. "Ginerva. If you don't move out of the way, I'll piss in front of you." Ginny spit out her toothpaste and joyfully skipped to her room, hearing the bathroom door slam shut behind her.

She dressed in her practice clothes, and quickly braided her hair out of her face. She grabbed her trunk and apparated it downstairs. She gave George a start, who then dropped his cup of tea, breaking the cup and splattering tea everywhere. "Shite! Ginny! What did you do that for?"

"I'm not lugging this down the staircase. And that's karma for all the times you and Fred did the exact same thing to us." She ignored the swear words that George was not mumbling quietly enough as he mended the tea cup and mopped up his tea. Molly was all ready up and making oatmeal. She ladled out a bowl and handed it to Ginny. "Morning, Ginny."

"Morning, Mum. Thanks." She sat down into a chair and shoveled the oatmeal into her mouth at the same speed of her brothers. George joined her with a fresh cup of tea and a bowl of oatmeal. Harry wandered into the kitchen, dressed in blue jeans and a Holyhead Harpies shirt with "WEASLEY" printed across his shoulders. He smiled at Ginny first and told everyone good morning. Ginny was all ready feeling mischievous from annoying George so early in the morning. She asked Harry, "Harry, would you like to be the happiest man on Earth? Shall I get you a cup of tea?"

George and Molly exchanged confused glances while Harry blushed and nodded. "That would be nice, Ginny. Thanks."

Ginny smirked and deposited her bowl in the sink before fixing Harry his tea. She placed it in front of his oatmeal and kissed his cheek. "Right. I've got to catch a port key and warm up to beat some Transylvanians. See you lot later."

"Good luck!" they called as she apparated with her trunk to the port key site. One of the Harpies beaters, Giselle Rose and their keeper, Allegra Gregg were all ready there, waiting with their trunks. Allegra was munching on a piece of toast. Giselle looked slightly nervous, but managed to strike up a conversation about the expected weather in Italy, the site for the World Cup. Well, technically, it was on a tiny island off the coast of Sicily, called Vulcano. The population was quite small, so it was easy to secure a remote spot between two large volcanoes to build a quidditch pitch with a number of muggle repelling charms. People who did not want to camp out in the valleys of the volcanoes could stay in hotels and villas that lined the coast of Vulcano. The weather was predicted to be sunny for the first part of the cup but stormy for the finals.

An alarm went off on the Harpies' watches, startling Allegra, who shoveled the crust of her toast into her mouth. They grabbed their trunks and bent down to touch a newspaper. Ginny felt a familiar tug from behind her navel as she moved from England to Italy. When she opened her eyes, she was on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. On any other circumstances she would have sunbathed and gone shopping, but they were here on business. They picked up their trunks and made their way through a few aisles of tents that had all ready been set up. While all of the players' tents had already been put up, general admittance to the public was not permitted until noon. The first game of the World Cup would star the Holyhead Harpies and the Transylvanians from Romania. The second game would be between Peru and Ireland. Ireland barely got into the cup and was not expected to last long. The third game would be between Japan and France. Japan was expected squash France easily. The fourth game would be between the Sweetwater All-Stars from Texas and the Tutshill Tornados. Ginny predicted the Texans would win that match. She would also be interested to see how many Tornado fans would turn coats and root for the Harpies if and when the Tornados were defeated. It was impossible to really predict how long each match would take. It was entirely up to the seekers. It could take anywhere from a few minutes to a several months. The longest game ever took a record of six months.

They made their way to the large dark green tent. It was obviously enchanted to hold a large amount of people. It had three bedrooms with bunk beds. All of the beds had identical golden yellow linens. A large kitchen and living room lead to all of the bedrooms. A long bathroom that resembled the one inside Harpies changing room was located at the back of the tent, connecting to each of the bedrooms. It wasn't glamorous, but it was comfortable.

Gloria Collins, a fellow chaser, was on her way out of the tent as the girls entered. "Best hurry. We need to stretch and warm up. No telling when the dumb Romanians will get here." Ginny, Allegra, and Giselle dumped their trunks in the bedroom on the right and hurried to the pitch. The rest of the team was there, including the reserves. To Ginny's relief, they had just started their series of stretches. Ginny enjoyed the familiar pull of her muscles waking up as she slowly stretched her body. The girls finished stretching and ran two laps around the pitch before they mounted their broomsticks and tore into the early morning sky. Half way through a passing drill with her other chasers, the Transylvanians arrived. They all had very dark hair and looked exceptionally grumpy. Ginny pulled her broom alongside of Gloria's. "You think we could use sex appeal to distract them?" She waggled her eyebrows at Gloria comically. Gloria giggled, "Ask Gwenogg if that's against the rules. Not like they wouldn't do it themselves if they had sex appeal greater than a pygmy puff." Ginny burst out laughing and flew to her previous position to resume the passing drill. They were already practicing plays by the time Transylvania got into the sky. They started their mind games immediately. The Harpies were expecting no less. For the most part, they were reserving their best material for the game, but occasionally a bludger would "accidentally" tear into their half of the stadium which always seemed to come close to hitting one of the Harpies. When practice was winding down, Ginny pulled up next to Gwenogg. "Gwenogg, is there anything in the rule book about using sex appeal to distract the opposing team?"

Gwenogg dropped the quaffle she was holding. She stared at it as it plummeted to the grass below. "I…I don't think so. But don't do it unless you absolutely have too. And nothing too slaggy, okay Weasley?"

Ginny grinned, "I'm not a slag. I'm a Harpy."

Gwenogg returned her smile and blew her whistle to signal the conclusion of the practice. The start of the first match was scheduled to start in an hour and a half. Gwenogg gave a heavy pep talk and list of strategies. She briefed the Harpies on the strengths and weaknesses on each of the starting Transylvanians. Ginny had provided about half of the strengths and weaknesses to Gwenogg. Her chest swelled with pride as she heard her own observations being shared with the team. The Harpies trailed back into the tent. The tents around the pitch had multiplied since they had entered the pitch. They made their way slowly back to their tent, making their way through fans and other team's fans. They were photographed, but they had been instructed not to sign autographs until after the match. They still had to change and have their makeup done. Normally they did their own makeup, but for huge games and the World Cup, a couple of witches were hired to apply their makeup and charm their hair to stay out of their eyes. They took turns sitting at the long table in the kitchen, waiting their turns.

Before they knew it, they were lined up in the tunnel clutching their broomsticks and listening to the deafening roar of the crowd. The Transylvanians had all ready been introduced. The roar of the crowd turned into shrieks and screams as their signature mascot – vampire bats – were released into the stadium. After a few minutes of shrieking, the crowd resumed to a subdued sound of cheering. The volume increased substantially as the tunnel door opened and the announcer said each of the Harpies' names. A round of fireworks exploded in the sky, leaving a giant eagle talon in the sky. The pitch was completely packed. Witches and wizards stood everywhere. Glaring lights floating in the air above added to lights on the railings. If muggles _could_ see this stadium from their aeroplanes, it would look like a giant bowl of lights. The south side of the stadium had white screens above each seat, partly obscuring the fans' view. They had to sit to see the game, but for everyone else in the stadium, the white screens made up a large screen that cut to random close up shots of the players, mascots, or referees. Ginny's face was put up on the large screen as her name was announced. She smirked and sped across the sky. The Harpies fans cheered while a few Transylvanians yelled something about the recent pregnancy story. Ginny barely heard one of them yell, "KNOCKED UP AND KNOCKED OFF HER BROOM!" Ginny smiled sweetly at the Romanian and batted her eyelashes at him. She then took her place for the start of the game. The snitch, quaffle, and bludgers were released. The game was on.

Author's Note: Thank you, Lu for editing the last two chapters in couple of hours! I appreciate your help!


	9. Chapter 9

Detailed Harpies Roster

Seeker: Gemma Holloway 04

Chaser I: Ginny Weasley 08

Chaser II: Giovanna Rossi 09

Chaser III: Gloria Collins 15

Beater I: Gwenog Jones 05

Beater II: Giselle Rose 02

Keeper: Allegra Gregg 12

Reserve Seeker: Leah Price 11

Reserve Chasers: Gia Piazza 14, Bettina Greco 07, Catherine Green 17

Reserve Beaters: Grace Williams 01, Georgina Harrison 16

Reserve Keeper: Gale Bennett 03

Chapter IX

The Transylvanian seeker and the Holyhead Harpies seeker, Gemma Holloway, tore after the snitch as soon as it was released from a heavy wooden crate several hundred yards below. The bludgers were being put to use already. Ginny could see one going straight to her face. She swiveled and did a barrel roll with her broom, flying upside down. She righted herself before she could get dizzy and set her eyes on the quaffle. A Transylvanian with a unibrow held onto the scarlet quaffle and was weaving his way in and out of players. Ginny lowered her body closer to her broom to get less wind resistance and willed her Firebolt to go faster. She flew dangerously close to his right side, but far enough back to where she was in his blind spot. Another bludger was sent her direction. The beater hadn't thought his plan through, because Ginny dipped in altitude a foot and allowed the bludger to collide with Unibrow. He dropped the quaffle and grabbed his right arm, yelping in pain. Ginny was right below him to catch it. She turned around and tore across the pitch to the other side of the stadium. Harpies fans were all ready screaming their lungs out. Ginny ducked as another bludger was sent her way. She had escaped that one too closely. Giovanna, another Harpies chaser flew off to her left. The beaters were focusing too much on Ginny, so Ginny faked them out and tossed the quaffle to Giovanna. Giovanna didn't waste a moment and tossed it directly into the left ring. Ten to zero.

The score seemed to irk the Transylvanians. From that point on, the fouls were relentless. Every time the referee caught one, the Harpies did not hesitate to take their penalty shot. Ginny was growing increasingly agitated. Her own broomstick had been grabbed three times, but the referee only awarded one penalty to Ginny (which she of course made). Of all the fouls, she considered blagging the most juvenile of fouls. It was like racing with someone and getting tripped. It was something that she hadn't seen in professional quidditch, and it made her angry. The other Harpies seemed to be angry as well. Four hours had passed since Giovanna's first goal. Instead of growing weary, they grew more determined. The Harpies were behind by 50 points. The score was 220 to 270. Ginny spared a glance toward Allegra, the Harpies keeper. Normally Allegra looked angelic, with her blonde hair and blue eyes. Now, she looked stressed and worried. Her brow was set in a determined scowl as she flew from hoop to hoop, trying to anticipate the next shot. Ginny, then, looked to her right just in time to see Gemma, the seeker, shoot upwards at break-neck speed. _She must see it! _Just then, the Transylvanian seeker caught sight of Gemma and began to chase after her. Ginny saw him and flew directly in between Gemma and him. Without thinking twice, she pulled up her jersey, flashing him, and the entire stadium with a dark green Harpies bra. The Transylvanian was distracted only for a moment, but luckily that's all it took. Gemma had caught the snitch!

The crowd erupted into cheers. The Harpies swarmed around Gemma as they descended to the grass. The Transylvanians were less gracious. They accosted the referee who declared Ginny's distraction legal. The referee said there was nothing in the handbook about flashing players. Ginny saw Unibrow go over and punch his own seeker! A fight erupted amongst the opposing team as the Harpies posed for pictures. When asked why Ginny had lifted her jersey, she shrugged and replied, "If the Transylvanians play dirty, so can the Harpies." Confetti and balloons littered the stadium as the Harpies mounted their brooms for a victory lap and to thank their fans from the air. Ginny worked her way around the stadium, pausing at clusters of fans that she recognized. She signed autographs and thanked them for their support. She saved her family's box for last. She was a little nervous about what they (and Harry) would think of her stunt. Well, maybe just Ron, Harry, and her Mum. Her brothers would probably think it was brilliant.

"Ginerva! That was not a lady-like thing to do!"

Ginny fought the urge to roll her eyes. She hadn't even pulled alongside the box yet, and she could all ready hear her mother yelling at her. She pulled alongside her brothers first and listened to their congratulations. She then pulled up to Ron and Harry. She cast her eye lids down and looked up at them through her eyelashes. "Are you angry with me?"

Ron scoffed. "More angry at the referee! Those blokes were grabbing your broom like it was a Christmas cracker!"

_One down, two to go._ "Harry?" Even to Ginny, her voice sounded particularly feminine and sweet. _Definitely pulling out the big guns for this one._

Harry just grinned. "Well, it's not something I would've done, but you didn't have much of a choice. He leaned over the railing and kissed her. The boxes on either side cheered wildly and yelled out cat calls. A photo flashed, but Ginny was beyond caring.

She smiled at Harry and then went over to her mother. "I'm sorry, Mum."

Molly looked like she was fighting a range of emotions. Her face kept on switching from scowling to smiling, the effects of which looked comical. Molly gave an exasperated sigh, "Please don't do that again, Ginny."

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief, "I won't, Mum. Are you lot coming for the victory party? I'll be there as soon as I shower." The box cleared out quickly. You didn't need to tell the Weasleys twice about a party.

The tent was crowded with people when Ginny made it back. She collected her shower things and a bathrobe and hoped to Merlin a shower stall would be open. To her luck, as she entered the long bathroom, Giovanna climbed out of a shower stall. "Nice game, Weasley. Did you see the last issue of _Witch Weekly_? You're a bigger deal than normal."

Ginny bit her lip in a torn matter of wanting to climb in the shower and wanting to be polite at the same time. Giovanna kept to herself mostly, so it was nice when she actually spoke to people. "No, I haven't seen it yet. Will you show me when I get out?"

Giovanna nodded and went into the bedroom that Ginny, Allegra, and Giselle had put their trunks in. Ginny stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain shut, closing her eyes in elation as the water washed away the sweat of the game. She showered quickly, knowing that other people would need to use the shower as well and twisted her hair on top of her head using her towel as she secured her bathrobe around her waist. She collected her things and went into the bedroom on the tent's right side. Giovanna was getting dressed in a black skirt with a green blouse. Giselle was wearing a green jumper with some closely-fitting blue jeans. Allegra was still in the bathroom. Giovanna paused and tossed Ginny a copy of _Witch Weekly_. She sat down on a bottom bunk bed and opened the magazine to the page Giovanna had folded over. There in the centerfold of the magazine was the infamous picture of Harry holding Ginny by the Ministry lifts. Harry was in his auror robes while Ginny had her hair pulled up, wearing heels, tight jeans, and Harry's dress shirt. She sighed, "Giovanna, why would I want to see this?"

"Just read it, Ginny."

Ginny focused her eyes at the bottom of the page. Apparently her wardrobe mishap had created a trend in fashion. She turned the page and several other witches had started wearing oversized dress shirts, calling them 'shirt dresses.' Ginny burst out laughing.

Allegra wandered into the room. "What's so funny, Miss Trendsetter?"

"The brilliant part of all of this," she waved the magazine above her head for emphasis, "is that I didn't have any clean shirts the day I went to see Harry! And now I've started a fashion trend! It's so ridiculous."

Allegra smiled and began to get dressed. "You know my mum's a muggle. She told me that her niece, my cousin, was wearing a shirt dress last night. So apparently you started something for them, too."

Ginny didn't quite know what to say about that. She put on a strapless green dress that fell just above her knees and slipped her feet into wedges (heels would go straight through the grass) and told a beauty witch that she was ready for hair and makeup. The witch applied a light layer of makeup but used a lot of eyeliner. It seemed like a lot of eyeliner, because Ginny never used any. She would get too frustrated when the lines would come out uneven, and she would give up. The witch then braided a tendril of hair towards her crown and pulled it across her head. The effect was adorable. It looked like her braid was her headband. The rest of her hair was left alone to do its own natural wavy thing. Ginny smiled at her reflection and thanked the beauty witch. Ginny braced herself and stepped into the kitchen and living room area. It was swarming with people. Photograph bulbs were flashing every ten seconds. She scanned the area for a tray of hor d'ourves. She spotted a silver tray a few yards to her left and set out to chase it. Her stomach was protesting loudly. About a foot away, she was intercepted by an old wizard with balding grey hair and a serious mustache. He was dressed in fancy wizarding robes and stuck out his hand to Ginny. Ginny looked long fully over his shoulder as the tray kept on moving throughout the crowd. She focused her attention on the old wizard and heartily shook his hand.

"Miss Ginny Weasley, it's a pleasure. My name is Kennilworthy Whisp."

Ginny gasped, "You wrote _Quidditch Through the Ages_?"

Kennilworthy looked a tad smug, "The same. And I bet your name will live throughout the ages after that last game!"

Ginny blushed slightly, "Yes, well, I suppose that's a good thing."

"Quite so! I love a good Harpies year. Your team is one of the most interesting teams! My favourite story was during a match in 1953. Do you know the story?"

Ginny beamed. This was her favourite story by far. "Yes I do. After a match, the captain of the Harriers proposed to Gwendolyn Morgan of the Harpies after a seven day long match. She was so angry with him that she hit him in the head with her broomstick and gave him a concussion."

Kennilworthy looked pleased with her knowledge, "Yes, yes, quite a story. And since dear Gwendolyn, most of the Harpies have had names that begin with the letter, 'G'?"

Ginny nodded, "Well, not all of our players, but most of them. It seems like the ones that last long happen to have a 'G' name. Some say the Harriers captain cursed us, but I don't believe in that because it seems like a rather silly curse to me."

Kennilworthy nodded in agreement. Just then, Ginny spotted Hermione and Ron. She waved them over excitedly. "Mr. Whisp, may I introduce you to some of my family?"

"Of course."

Ron and Hermione made their way to Ginny's side. "Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, this is Kennilworthy Whisp, author of –"

"_QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES!" _Ron finished for her and offered his hand to Mr. Whisp. Hermione looked a little stunned.

"Ah, the Golden Trio! It's an honor to meet you both. May I have the pleasure of meeting the Boy Who Lived as well?" he asked looking at Ginny.

"If I can find him…" she searched the crowd only to be startled as Harry appeared at her elbow. "Here he is. Harry Potter, this is Kennilworthy Whisp, one of your favourite authors. Mr. Whisp, this is my boyfriend, Harry Potter."

Mr. Kennilworthy finished shaking Hermione and Ron's hands and then turned to Harry to ask him a couple of questions. Ginny directed her attention to Ron. "Did you have anything you wanted to ask him? Now would be the chance."

Ron looked a little out of it. He had a dreamy like look on his face. It was a similar look to when he had been love potioned, but not as severe. "I…I can't believe I met him! He's how I learned about quidditch, Gin!"

Ginny smiled, "Yes, Ron, I know. But did you have any questions for him?"

Ron furrowed his brow in concentration. "I think I should…but I can't think of any." Hermione giggled at her boyfriend and exchanged glances with Ginny.

"Have you seen any food around? I'm starving!"

Hermione nodded. "There's loads over in that corner of the kitchen. Want me to show you?" Ginny nodded and held Hermione's hand as they made their way through the milling crowd. A row of silver serving dishes hovering over flames to keep the food warm beckoned to Ginny's stomach. Ginny grabbed a plate of pasta and leaned against a counter with Hermione, twirling pasta into her mouth.

"That was a brilliant game, Ginny."

"Thanks, Hermione. I'm a little worried about something Mr. Whisp said though."

"Oh?"

"He said that it would be remembered throughout history. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if me flashing my bra is something I want to be remembered for."

Hermione looked pensive before she answered, "Well, Ginny, I think you, Ron, Harry, and I are going to be remembered regardless, so it seems pointless to worry about that now."

Ginny nodded. "Plus, there's nothing I can do about it now."

Hermione smirked, "And who knows? Maybe another little girl will want to be on the Harpies when she hears how you distracted the evil fouling Transylvanians. Much like the story of Gwendolyn and her giving that man a concussion."

Ginny snorted, "Not sure if we would want that kind of girl on our team. She'd likely grow up to be an outright slag!"

Hermione burst out laughing, "Well perhaps."

Author's Note: As always, thanks, Lu! I would also like to thank everyone who has been commenting and adding me to your favorite stories/authors lists. It brightens my day every time I get a notification email.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter X

Ginny awoke in the early morning to something a muck going on in her bedroom. She forced her heavy eyelids open and remembered this was not her bedroom at the Burrow - this was the Holyhead Harpies' enchanted tent. She then noticed her bed rocking back and forth. Rolling over on her stomach,she yelled down to her bunkmate below, "Go shag in the bathroom! You're shaking my bed too!" To Ginny's delight, the bed promptly stopped moving. She fell back asleep before Allegra and her mystery suitor scampered into the restroom to continue their rendezvous.

Ginny woke up what only seemed like two minutes later. She could hear Harpies moving about the tent, opening and closing trunks. After consulting a watch, she found out it had been in fact much longer. She then wondered if the sun was up. Not like that sort of thing would matter to Gwenog. It was time for a Harpies run. Ginny pulled on a pair of black shorts and an old Gryffindor shirt, tied her trainers and wolfed down a banana before the rest of her teammates came outside to stretch their legs.

It wasn't even a game day, but that didn't seem to matter.

They jogged single file through the camp and up onto the volcano's hillside. The run uphill was murder, but Ginny felt like she was on her Firebolt on the way downhill back to camp. The Harpies rotated eating breakfast and showering. Ginny dressed in a white sleeveless dress with a v-neck and simple ballet flats. She paired it with a chunky turquoise necklace and a light green cardigan. She grabbed her wand and followed the rest of her team mates to the Harpies box for the match between Peru and Ireland. Peru squashed Ireland within two and a half hours. The score was 360 to 20. Ginny even felt a little bad for Ireland.

Ginny glanced around and noticed most of the Harpies had wandered out of the special box. She decided to go find her family, as the other Harpies had clearly done.

The Weasley family box erupted in greetings. It wasn't everyday that Ginny got to actually watch a quidditch game with her family. The box was filled with redheads (and Hermione and Harry). Harry got up to give Ginny his seat, but she insisted they could share it. She settled on his lap at an angle, so Harry could still see the pitch.

The next game was between Japan and France. Ginny was very surprised with the game. The French Beaters had improved since she saw them last. Or perhaps they were replacements? At any rate, they were ruthless and so effective that they forced Japan to use their reserves within the first two hours, and wound up winning after three and a half hours. That evening all could smell burning broomsticks and see smoke rising from Japan's tent. They burned their broomsticks out of shame. Ginny saw them running laps around the stadium as the Harpies took their run the following dawn.

The next day Ginny woke up listening to the familiar sounds of her team mates opening their trunks to get ready for the day. Today was the game between the Sweetwater All-Stars and the Tutshill Tornados. There was a possibility that the Harpies might play their game with Peru later in the evening, depending on how long the Tornados held out. The Harpies had game day hair prepared, just in case but it wasn't necessary. The game was painfully slow. Ginny went to bed around eleven that night with the players still zooming around the pitch. The next day passed much the same and by dark, the All-Stars were ahead 410 to 280. Again, the fans went to bed as the players and reserves took turns playing. The next morning, Ginny woke up to hear that the Sweetwater All-Star reserve Seeker had caught the Snitch around three in the morning. Now it was the Harpies turn to play Peru for the semi-finals. If they defeated Peru, they would play either France or Texas in the finals.

The Harpies meticulously followed their warm up routine. Ginny pulled on her white game day trousers. She decided to put a tank top underneath her jersey today, just in case. Ginny's beauty witch quickly pulled her long mane into a French braid and secured the loose ends with bobby pins. She got a generous douse of hair spray and moved out to the pitch, placing her diamond stud ear rings in her lobes for luck on the way.

They needed luck. Peru was highly skilled. Ginny got pummeled with a Bludger after the first hour of the game. She had just scored a goal and turned to find a Bludger coming straight for her face. She managed to move, but not quickly enough. The Bludger collided with her thigh, almost knocking her off her broom. A reserve Chaser had to replace her while a mediwitch attended her on the sidelines. Ginny was back in the air within the hour, with a numb leg and an anger that could only be quelled with vengeance.

Ginny pulled of her specialties. She flew scarily close to Peru's players, her broom bristles actually entangling with one of the Peruvian Chaser's brooms. He elbowed her in the side. Ginny, expecting this, and took that moment to reach under his arm and grab the Quaffle from under his other arm. The pitch's big screen caught all of this. Ginny secured the Quaffle and flew beneath the opposing Chaser's broom, cutting across the pitch to his rings. She flew low, drawing the Keeper's attention to the lowest ring. She jerked her broom to the left at the last moment and tossed the Quaffle into the ring. The Harpies were now ahead, 220 to 210.

Unfortunately, the Snitch was elusive.

Gemma zoomed around the pitch, her gaze never staying in the same spot for more than a moment. Peru's beaters occasionally sent a Beater in her direction, but she was able to avoid them well enough.

Ginny acquired the Quaffle once again and passed it to a reserve chaser, Catherine Greene. Gloria had taken a Bludger to her back during the first hour and Ginny hadn't seen her since. Catherine was skilled enough, but Ginny would have preferred Gloria's speed to Catherine. Catherine tucked the Quaffle under and arm and narrowly missed another Peruvian chaser, trying to swat the Quaffle out of her grasp. Ginny dodged a beater and flew close to Catherine's broom. Catherine discretely passed the Quaffle to Ginny and sped off toward the hoops. The beaters followed Catherine, leaving Ginny open to score another ten points.

Ginny turned around and was surprised to see the Beaters elsewhere. She scanned the pitch to find them descending upon the Harpies' Seeker and one Beater smacked a Bludger straight into Gemma's broom stick!

Gemma made a funny face - as her broom began to tailspin, dropping altitude by the second. Gemma had one hand on her broom stick - while the other hand clutched at her abdomen.

_She's been hit!_ Ginny thought as she tore across the pitch, trying to catch Gemma before she plummeted to the grass below. She positioned her own broom below Gemma's and yelled, "JUMP!" As Ginny scooted forward, she felt a weight land directly behind her. Gemma's broomstick continued its path down to the field and shattered on impact. Ginny was about to take off when Gemma said, "It's over."

"No it's not, we can still find it!" Ginny encouraged, making her way to the sidelines for an extra broom.

Gemma pulled her hand away from her abdomen, clutching a tiny golden ball, and pushed it in front of Ginny's face. "No, I mean the match is over. I found it!"

Ginny squealed with glee along with the rest of the stadium as Gemma held up the Snitch for the world to see. "The Snitch actually flew down my shirt when I was hit with that Bludger! That's why I was clutching my stomach. I didn't want it to fly out."

"That's brilliant, Gemma!"

That evening Ginny left the celebrating Harpies to visit her family's tent. George had made it in his joke shop. The walls were an obnoxious purple, so it was quite easy to pick out. It was a very large tent. There was a small room for her mum and dad, a smaller room for Hermione, and a large room for her brother's bunks. It had a bathroom and a kitchen. The kitchen had a long island counter, where the family would eat on stools. Molly hated the counter. She longed for the proper table of the Burrow.

Ginny strolled past most of her family, perched at the counter eating something with an amazing smell. She called greetings as she went to the boys' room. Harry was perched on his bunk, scrawling something on a piece of parchment.

"Hey, you."

Harry jumped about six inches in the air and hastily stuffed his parchment under his mattress. "You scared me."

"I can see that. What were you doing?"

Harry glanced down at the floor before he looked back at her face. "I was just writing my speech for when I present the World Cup. Waste of time, really. I know you'll win and I'll be so excited for you I'll forget what I was going to say anyway."

Ginny punched his arm. "Don't jinx us that way! It's bad luck!"

Harry snorted. "Sure. So luck was the one that caught Gemma as she was falling off her broom?" He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a look that egged her on.

"No, but it was LUCKY that I managed to get under her so fast."

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" George crowed from the adjacent bunk.

"Shut it, George!"

Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing. Ginny rounded on him. "So what is it that you stuffed under your mattress?"

"Ginny, never ask a bloke that question unless you really want to know," George called from his top bunk.

"Would you go away already?" Ginny cried in exasperation.

"Anything for the star of the Harpies." George flopped to the ground and performed a mock bow as he exited.

"Prat."

Harry shifted uncomfortably, putting his leg directly in front of the parchment. "It's just not ready yet. I don't want you to hear it until that moment."

Ginny eyed him suspiciously. "You're hiding something."

Harry met her gaze. "Yes, I'm hiding my speech. And I don't want you to see it yet. Want to eat something?"

Ginny sighed dramatically. "All right."

**Author's Note: **I apologize for the delay. I went on holiday to Italy for a few weeks, got a new beta reader, and a new job (in that order). I'll try to write these last chapters quickly. That being said, I would like to thank Lavinia Lavender for editing this last chapter. Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter XI

Ginny jolted awake, panting, her white camisole was sticking to her skin. She squinted at her watch through the darkness of the Holyhead Harpies tent. It was 3:09 a.m. Ginny flopped back onto her pillow in irritation. _I should've taken a sleeping draught! I need my wits about me for the World Cup finals in a few hours! _She curled into a ball and began counting in Latin. The last number she remembered was CIX.

The next time Ginny awoke was when Gwenog was jerking off her quilt. "Come on, Weasley. You've got some points to score today!"

Ginny hurriedly got dressed and joined the other Harpies for their now familiar run up and down the volcano's side. The warm-up process moved in such a blur, the next thing she knew, she was being ushered out onto the pitch in front of thousands of screaming fans. The crowd's noise level for the final game of the World Cup put the semi-final's crowd to shame. This crowd would have no problem drowning out loads of screaming Mandrakes.

Ginny soared around the stadium as the commentator announced her name and position. She settled into the middle of the pitch and tuned everyone else out to size up her competition. Of course she had seen the Sweetwater All-Stars play several times since the World Cup began, but this would be the first time she had personally played them.

A wizard on a broom directly across from her locked eyes. He was terribly handsome, in a rugged way. He looked more like a Beater than a Chaser. In fact, the majority of the All-Stars looked like beaters. Their Seeker was the only exception. A waif-like wizard with a patchy brown beard scanned the crowd warily.

Ginny watched the officials fly down to open the trunk, and the game was on.

The trick for this game, as Ginny had explained to the Harpies the night before, was to score early and quickly. The All-Star's weakness was that they started each game slowly. They like to observe the opposing team's weaknesses and exploit. If the Harpies scored a few points in the beginning and caught the Snitch early, they would have the cup in the bag.

Ginny soared across the pitch, Quaffle in tow. She quickly tossed it for a goal, only to be thwarted by the All-Stars' Keeper. She quickly turned on her broom, almost falling off in the process but she regained her composure and zoomed across the pitch to steal the Quaffle back. Giselle, one of the Harpies beaters, sent the Bludger hurdling toward an All-Star Chaser. He narrowly dodged the Bludger but had to use both hands to remain on his broom. Ginny snatched the Quaffle five meters below and tore across the sky once again to face off the All-Stars' Keeper. She passed the Quaffle to Giovanna, who passed it back to Ginny behind her back. Ginny threw it into the lowest hoop and the Harpies fans went crazy.

Giovanna had already stolen the Quaffle by the time the Harpies fans had quieted down. Giovanna swiftly threw it into the middle hoop, to the keeper's dismay.

Ginny managed to spare a glance to Gemma. Gemma was either faking the other Seeker out, or she had all ready spotted the Snitch! The twig-like All-Star Seeker was faster than Ginny. He moved so quickly, it reminded Ginny of an actual golden snidget.

Gemma collided with the fast Seeker. There was a commotion. The referees swarmed around the pair. Gemma emerged from the cluster of wizards, with her hand held high. She had caught the Snitch.

The cries of the fans were deafening. They had won the world cup in five minutes and thirty-two seconds! Part of Ginny was disappointed that the game had not lasted long. The rest of her was too busy celebrating their victory.

The Harpies were ushered to a floating platform. A large, ostentatious cup was hovering over a podium. England's and America's Ministers of Magic were waiting and shook hands with each of the players. The American minister sat down on a chair as Kingsley turned to face the fans. He raised his wand to his throat and spoke: "Wizards and witches of the World Cup! It is my honor and pleasure to introduce to you my dear friend and hero, Harry James Potter, to present the cup!"

As soon as the word, "Potter" came out of his mouth, the crowd began screaming all over again, the American fans joining in.

Harry flew out on a Firebolt from the Weasleys' box. He climbed on the platform and waved nervously to the crowd. His eyes met Ginny's and his mouth broke out into a beaming grin.

Harry took a few steps forward, completely passing the podium. Ginny looked at him confused. When he passed Gwenog, she was about to say something. Before she had the chance, Harry raised his wand to his throat and spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to present the World Cup to the Holyhead Harpies."

Cheers interrupted his speech. Harry smiled and waited for the noise to dissipate.

"Excuse me, but I have to do something else first."

The silence that ensued was comical.

Harry turned his body toward Ginny. He held out his left hand, and she hesitantly put her gloved hand in his. Harry still held his wand in his right hand. He sank down on to one knee.

Ginny's stomach erupted into a million Snitches. She quickly glanced down at Harry's shoes to make sure they were tied –he wasn't even wearing shoelaces! "Merlin," she murmured.

"Ginny Weasley. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?"

Ginny barely heard his words over the chorus of screaming fans and squealing Harpies.

"Yes!"

Harry pocketed his wand and produced a small black box as he rose to his feet. He gently removed her left glove and slid a somewhat large diamond on a delicate band onto her left ring finger. Before she could fully admire the ring, Harry's arms were around her waist, pulled her against him. His lips crashed into hers. The adrenaline high from the World Cup victory mixed with the soaring emotions she felt when she saw Harry get down on a knee. It was the most euphoric sensation Ginny had experienced.

Harry broke off the kiss and smiled at his new fiancée. He slowly released her hand and turned to the crowd once more. He raised his wand to his throat again, "In case you didn't catch that, she said yes. And now for the World Cup! I am very honored to present the tenacious Holyhead Harpies of Holyhead, England with the 424th World Cup!"

The after party was elating. Even Fred was nice to Ginny (which felt a little odd). Ginny floated on cloud nine while she received alternating congratulations for her performance to her engagement. Later in the evening, between glasses of champagne and plates of food, Ginny managed to slip out of the tent to find her new fiancé. Harry stood off to the side, swirling a glass of firewhiskey in his hand. She walked silently behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He jumped slightly and then relaxed after he glanced over his shoulder. He gave a content sigh. Ginny nuzzled her face into his back.

"You smell delightful for just playing Quidditch." Harry mused.

"Well the game didn't last long."

"Our marriage will."

Ginny smiled. Harry turned in her embrace and tucked his free arm around her shoulders. "So did I totally surprise you?"

"Yes, you surprised me and the entire wizarding world….again."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Sorry it took me a while to complete this. Turns out this fic uncannily mirrored my life because my boyfriend just proposed to me two weeks ago. :) Funny how that sort of stuff works out. I would like to thank my beta reader, Lavinia Lavender for editing this chapter in record time!


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